Notice to All Health Regulated Establishments

Notice to All Health Regulated Establishments

The Division of Environmental Health of the Department of Public Health and Social Services would like to remind all health-regulated establishments that in the event of a power and/or water outage, affected businesses must ensure appropriate measures are implemented in protecting their customers:

All Food and Water Vending Establishments

Power must be available at all times in order to operate your business.

If there is no power and/or water, the food establishment operators must cease operations.

If a generator is used as an alternate power source, food establishment operators must ensure that all cold holding temperatures are maintained at or below 41o F for refrigerator units and at or below 0o F for freezer units, and all hot holding temperatures are maintained at or above 140o F.

Hot water must be provided at a temperature of at least 100o F for all handwashing sinks.

Schools and Child Care Establishments

Adequate lighting must be provided to promote safety and comfortable lighting environment.
Ventilation shall be adequate to provide proper circulation of needed air within a room by either windows or mechanical ventilators. No class room shall exceed a temperature of 84o F.
If there is no power and/or water, food preparation must cease..
If a generator is used as an alternate power source, food operations must ensure that all cold holding temperatures are maintained at or below 41o F for refrigerator units and at or below 0o F for freezer units, and all hot holding temperatures are maintained at or above 140o F.
Hot water must be provided at a temperature of at least 100o F for all handwashing sinks.
Food Safety

Maintain all perishable food below 41o F or above 140o F.

Discard any perishable food (i.e., meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk) that has been in refrigerator or freezer at or above 41o F for 4 hours or more.

Frozen food that is still somewhat thawed or has ice crystals can still be refrozen, or used immediately.

When in doubt, throw it out.

For further information, please contact the Food Safety Program of the Division of Environmental Health at 735-7221 or via email at dphss-deh@dphss.guam.gov.

X Flooding is a temporary overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. There are many possible causes of floods including heavy rain, coastal storms and storm surge, waterway overflow from being blocked with debris, or overflow of levees, dams, or waste water systems. Flooding can occur slowly over many days or happen very quickly with little or no warning, called flash floods.

X
Typhoons/Hurricanes are massive storm systems that form over the water and move toward land. Threats from typhoons/hurricanes include high winds, heavy rainfall, storm surge, coastal and inland flooding, and rip currents.

“Hurricanes” form in the Atlantic Northeast Pacific region and “Typhoons” form in the Northwest Pacific Region. These large storms are call cyclones in other parts of the world.

X Hazardous materials come in the form of explosives, flammable and combustible substances, poisons and radioactive materials. Hazards can occur during production, storage, transportation, use, or disposal. You and your community are at risk if a chemical is used unsafely or released in harmful amounts in the environement where you live, work or play.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Definition of Terrorism

Under Section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002:

The term ‘‘terrorism’’ means any activity that— (A) involves an act that— (i) is dangerous to human life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or key resources; and (ii) is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State or other subdivision of the United States; and (B) appears to be intended— (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.

X Tsunamis, also known as seismic waves (mistakenly called “tidal waves”), are a series of enormous waves created by an underwater disturbance such as an earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption, or meteorite. Earthquake-induced movement of the ocean floor most often generate tsunamis. If a major earthquake or landslide occurs close to shore, the first wave in a series could reach the beach in a few minutes, even before a warning is issued.